The 2018 biennial Commission meeting of the IWC will be held at the Costao Do Santinho Resort, Florianopolis, Brazil.
The 2018 meeting of the IWC Scientific Committee will be held at the Hotel Golf, Bled, Slovenia.
A priority topic of the Scientific Committee is the issue of poorly documented takes of small cetaceans. The first workshop, of a series of three, was held in Thailand and focused on this issue in Asia. In March 2018 a second Workshop will be held in Brazil and will focus on this issue in South America, with particular reference to hunting of the boto (Inia geoffrensis) as bait for the piracatinga (Calophysus macropterus) fishery. This Workshop combines two of the actions proposed by the Scientific Committee, concern for the global take of small cetaceans for food, bait and traditional uses ('wildmeat') and alarm at the reported extent of the hunting of boto for the piracatinga fishery which occurs throughout the Amazon region. The Workshop will focus on identifying existing threats to small cetaceans in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica. The tools which can be used to investigate the issue of poorly documented takes will be discussed and an in depth review will be made of the information available on the use of the boto for the piracatinga fishery.
The Workshop will take place in Santos, Brazil.
For further information please contact: Lindsay.jp@gmail.com, pfruet@gmail.com or alex.zerbini@noaa.gov.
Documents will be available via our Portal, a login will be required
Documents can be uploaded via our Portal, a login will be required